Tuguegarao Archdiocesan Schools System

Saint Joseph’s College of Baggao, Inc.

Baggao, Cagayan, Philippines
Transforming Lives, Shaping the Future

Module No. 10
Development of the Learners at Various Stage
Infancy and Toddlerhood

Course Title The Child and Adolescent Learners and Course Code EDUC102
Learning Principles
Instructor ERNEST HANS S. MAIGUE Term and AY 1st Sem, AY 2020-2021

I. Overview
Young children rapidly grow, develop and achieve important milestones between birth and age 3,
creating the foundation for later growth. This lesson will introduce developmental milestones in addition to
influences on early physical growth and development, understand typical cognitive development, or how infants
and toddlers develop thinking skills and understand how infants and toddlers develop socially-emotionally.

II. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

At the end of this module, you should be able to:
 Identify infant and toddler physical and motor developmental milestones and ways to support
development for all infants and toddlers.
 Describe the brain’s role in infant and toddler physical development.
 Recognize influences of physical growth and development.
 Identify typical cognitive developmental milestones from birth to age three.
 Identify social-emotional milestones in infants and toddlers.
 Discuss the role adults can play in supporting the social-emotional skills of infants and toddlers.

III. Learning Resources and References

Corpuz B, Lucas M, Borado, H and Lucido P, (2018) The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning
Principles, Philippines.
Virtuallabschool.org. 2020. Professional Development for Child & Youth Educators| VLS. [online]
Available at: <https://www.virtuallabschool.org/infant-toddler/physical-development/lesson-2>.

IV. Lecture Content/Summary of Lesson

Physical Development from the Start

When healthy babies are born, their internal systems, such as breathing and eating, are developed and
functional. All infants will require responsive care from loving adults, proper nutrition, and appropriately
stimulating environments to support the best possible physical development. Infant and toddler physical
development occurs quickly, and it is essential to understand physical development during various stages.
From birth, infants want to explore their world. While each child has his or her own schedule for
development and mastering new skills, infants are often eager early on to move their mouths, eyes and bodies
toward people and objects that comfort or interest them. They continue to practice skills that let them move
closer to desired objects. Ongoing observation and frequent conversations with their families can help you learn
what infants and toddlers are able to do, what they are learning to do, and in what areas they could use your
support.
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 Infants develop physically from the top down, starting with their heads and necks. At birth, an infant has
a very difficult time holding up his or her head because the neck muscles are not strong enough to provide
support. As infants and toddlers grow, their determination to master movement, balance, and fine- and gross-
motor skills remains strong. Rolling and crawling occur as infants develop skills in using large-muscle groups.
Grasping and picking up objects with fingers are signs of small-muscle skill growth.

Influences on Early Physical Growth and Development

There is no exact age at which all infants should be able to grasp objects or hold up their heads without support.
Physical development occurs at different times for all children depending on many factors, such as the child’s
unique characteristics, the family’s values and culture, and the available resources. However, many infants and
toddlers experience developmental milestones at similar times. The chart below outlines information about what
infants and toddlers are likely experiencing and learning during different periods:

Examples of Physical Development Milestones – Infants and Toddlers

 Holds head up with support
2 months  Begins to push up when lying on tummy
 Makes smoother movements with arms and legs
 Holds head steady without support
 Pushes down on legs when feet are on a hard surface
 Rolls over from tummy to back
4 months
 Holds and shakes toys, swings at dangling toys
 Brings hands to mouth
 Pushes up to elbows when lying on tummy
 Rolls over both from stomach to back and from back to stomach
 Begins to sit with support
6 months
 Supports weight on legs when standing and might bounce
 Rocks back and forth, sometimes crawls backward before moving forward
 Crawls
 Sits without support
9 months  Moves into sitting position with support
 Stands, holding on to adult or furniture for support
 Pulls to stand
 Moves into sitting position without support
 Pulls up to stand and walks alone while holding onto furniture
1 year
 Takes few steps without support of adult or furniture
 Stands alone
 Walks alone
 Runs
 Pulls toys while walking
18 months
 Helps undress self
 Drinks from a cup
 Eats with a spoon
 Begins to run
 Climbs onto and down from furniture without support
 Walks up and down starts while holding on for support
2 years
 Throws ball overhand
 Draws or copies straight lines and circles
 Stands on tiptoe
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Keep in mind that the milestones above are simply the average ages at which specific development is observed.

Certain conditions must exist for an infant or toddler to grow and develop. A young child’s basic needs, or
physical needs, include:
 Food (nutritious and age-appropriate)
 Shelter (protection from harm)
 Warmth
 Clean air and environment
 Health and dental care
 Activity and rest
We also know that the way we ourselves were raised is important to our understanding of how and in what
contexts children develop. The values and beliefs held by our family and culture contribute to our knowledge of
growth and development.

Culture Impacts How We See and Interpret Behaviors and Development

Because culture shapes so many parts of an infant’s and toddler’s development, you must understand the
practices, beliefs and values of the families you support. Without this understanding, it is difficult to interpret
the infant’s or toddler’s behaviors and development. For example, you may believe it is important to help
toddlers learn to become independent and begin to feed themselves using fine motor skills. A family, however,
may not view independence as important because they believe it is more valuable to depend upon one another.

Other influences on infant and toddler physical growth and development are:

 Prenatal care and development, including genetic inheritance, family patterns, exposure to drugs and
alcohol; birth experience
 Prematurity (birth before the 38th week of development) and low birth weight may bring respiration
difficulties, vision problems, feeding and digestive problems
 Temperament, or the ways an infant or toddler approaches his or her world
 Family’s composition, lifestyle, level of education and housing
 Maturation, or the sequence of biological elements that reflect a pattern of growth and development
 Developmental delays or disabilities, including health concerns

The Brain’s Role in Physical Development

You can easily observe infants making movements with their bodies and refining their physical skills.
Thanks to advances in research and technology, we can now also see how the brain changes and grows as young
children develop. At birth, the brain is 25 percent of its adult size and by age 5, it reaches 90 percent of adult
size. Early-life interactions and experiences of infants and toddlers help them make sense of the world and form
connections between the different parts of the brain.

These supportive experiences and connections help foster more coordination and stronger muscles.
Research tells us that as infants repeat and practice different movements, such as turning their heads or reaching
for an object, they are building and maintaining connections between brain cells. In essence, the brain is busy
making sense of the experience.
It is important for infants and toddlers to have time for these new experiences and to explore the world
around them with you, a trusted and caring adult caregiver. The repeated experience of safely exploring together
helps infants and toddlers learn they can trust you, while also ensuring that their brains focus on learning,
developing, and making connections. If infants and toddlers do not have nurturing and responsive adults to help
keep them safe, their brains will instinctually focus on survival and will have less opportunity to create and
strengthen connections for further skill development, including physical growth.

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Supporting Physical Development for All Learners
Physical development, including gross- and fine-motor skills, consumes the interest of infants and
toddlers as they practice learned skills and look to develop new ones. Healthy physical development is
dependent upon nutrition, brain development, the central nervous system, muscles, bones and the interactions
and experiences that are offered to infants and toddlers. By recognizing developmental delays during infancy or
toddlerhood, early intervention may be more effective than if the delays were not acknowledged until
childhood. Below are some characteristics of possible physical concerns or developmental alerts:

Signs of Impaired Physical Development - Infants & Toddlers

 Does not notice hands

By 3 months  Cannot support head well
 Not using hands to grasp or hold objects
 Difficulty sucking
 Not gaining weight or growing in height
 Not responding to sounds and voices
 Does not bring objects to mouth
By 6 months
 Does not roll over from front to back or back to front
 Stiff limbs (arms, legs)
 Weak limbs (arms, legs)
 Not using hands to grasp or hold objects
 Not pointing to communicate needs or ideas
By 12 months  Not crawling or sitting on own
 Not picking up small objects
 Not imitating
 Not playing with toys
By 18 months
 Not scribbling or picking up objects to, for example, put in a container
 Not self-feeding
 Not physically active
 Not scribbling or stacking blocks
By 24 months
 Not showing interest in playing with toys
 Extra sensitive to or avoiding a variety of textures
 Clumsy or inactive
 Not feeding self
By 36 months
 Not helping dress or undress self
 Not interested in playing with a variety of toys

Delays in physical development may affect more than gross- and fine-motor skills. For example, if an infant is
unable to smile at her or his parents or lift her or his arms to be picked up, this could impact social and
emotional development (e.g., relationship building).

Cognitive Development from the Start

Infants and toddlers are born ready to learn. They learn through cuddling with a caregiver, listening to
language, trying out sounds, stretching on the floor, reaching for objects, tasting foods, and exploring their
environments in countless ways everyday. Their brains go through amazing changes during the first three years
of life. This lesson will highlight cognitive developmental milestones for infants and toddlers.
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Milestones
Infants' and toddlers' thinking skills grow as they interact with the world and people around them. As
you learned in the first lesson, early experiences matter. Consistent, nurturing experiences help infants and
toddlers make sense of the world. Those experiences literally build brain architecture. As infants and toddlers
develop, they begin to understand and predict how things work: they open and close a cabinet door over and
over, they fill and dump a cup of water in the water table, they bang a spoon on a high chair to hear the sound.
Watching an infant or toddler make new discoveries is truly exciting. Think of how exciting it is the first
time an infant stacks blocks (and knocks them down) or the first time a toddler pretends to "read" a book to you.
The chart below highlights infant and toddler cognitive development as they grow. Keep in mind that individual
differences exist when it comes to the specific age at which infants and toddlers meet these milestones and that
each infant and toddler is unique. As you may have already learned in other courses, milestones provide a guide
for when to expect certain skills or behaviors to emerge. Think of milestones as guidelines to help you
understand and identify typical patterns of growth and development, or to help you know when and what to
look for as young children mature. As an infant and toddler caregiver, you can use this information, what you
learn from families and your own knowledge in the interactions, experiences, and environments you create for
infants and toddlers.

Chart: Cognitive Developmental Milestones

 Pays attention to faces
2 months  Begins to follow things with eyes and recognize people at a distance
 Begins to act bored (cries, fussy) if activity doesn't change
 Looks around at things nearby
 Brings things to mouth
6 months
 Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach
 Begins to pass things from one hand to another
 Explores things in different ways like shaking, banging, throwing
 Finds hidden things easily
 Looks at the right picture or thing when it's named
 Copies gestures
 Starts to use things correctly (like drinks from a cup, brushes hair)
12 months
 Bangs two things together
 Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
 Let things go without help
 Pokes with index (pointer) finger
 Follows simple directions like "pick up the toy"
 Knows what ordinary things are; for example telephone, brush, spoon
 Points to get the attention of others
 Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
18 months  Point to one body part
 Scribbles on his own
 Can follow 1-step verbal commands without any gestures; for example, sits
when you say "sit down"
24 months  Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
 Begins to sort shapes and colors
 Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
 Plays simple make-believe games

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  Builds towers of 4 or more blocks
 Might use one hand more than the other
 Follows two-step directions like, "Pick up your shoes and put them in the
closet."
 Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts
 Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
 Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
 Understands what "two" means
36 months
 Copies a circle with a pencil or crayon
 Turns book pages one at a time
 Builds towers of more than 6 blocks
 Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handles

It's important to know that how infants and toddlers are assigned to classrooms may not reflect the age
spans listed above. There are programs that regroup children every six months and those that use multi-age or
family-style groupings, which keep children and their teachers together for a longer period of time. It is best
practice to minimize the number of times infants and toddlers have to transition from one age group to the next.
Cognitive development is a unique process and is specific to each infant, toddler, and family. Many
factors influence cognitive development including genes, prenatal events (i.e., before or during birth), and
aspects of the child's environment. A family may wonder about their young child's cognitive development and
feel uncertain about what they are observing, as well as what to expect. As an infant and toddler caregiver, you
have an opportunity to learn first from a family and consider offering additional developmental information,
including possible warning signs.

Possible Warning Signs for Cognitive Development Issues for Infants and Toddlers
 Doesn't watch things as they move
Young Infants
 Doesn't bring things to mouth
 Doesn't try to get things that are in reach
 Has difficulty getting things to mouth
 Doesn't play any games involving back-and-forth play (i.e., Peek-a-Boo)
 Doesn't seem to recognize familiar people
Mobile Infants  Doesn't look where you point
 Doesn't transfer toys from one hand to another
 Doesn't learn gestures like waving or shaking head
 Loses skills he once had
 Doesn't search for things she sees you hide
 Doesn't copy others
 Doesn't point to show things to others
 Doesn't know what to do with common things, like a brush, phone, spoon
Toddlers
 Doesn't follow simple directions
 Doesn't play pretend or make-believe (at 3 years)
 Loses skills she once had

Socio-emotional Development from the Start

Emotional well-being during the early years has a powerful impact on social relationships. Children who
are emotionally healthy are better able to establish and maintain positive relationships with adults as well as
with peers. Social-emotional development is essential to a young child’s sense of well-being. Their first
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relationships help shape who they are, who they become, and their understanding of the world. The important
people in young children’s lives help lay the foundation for a range of social-emotional skills such as:

 Self-regulation
 Empathy
 Turn-taking and sharing
 Positive relationships with adults and peers

Social-Emotional Milestones
Through early relationships and with nurturing, responsive interactions, infants and toddlers learn ways
of being in relationships, how to get their needs and wants met, and how to identify and regulate emotions.
Because these skills develop together, this area of development is referred to as social-emotional development.
Below is a chart that highlights how infants and toddlers develop social-emotional skills at different
ages. Keep in mind that individual differences exist when it comes to the precise age at which infants and
toddlers meet these milestones. As highlighted in the Cognitive, Physical, and Communication courses,
milestones are not checklists with which to judge children’s development. Rather, they provide a guide for
when to expect certain skills or behaviors to emerge in young children so you are ready to meet their needs.
Think of milestones as guidelines to help you understand and identify typical patterns of growth and
development in infants and toddlers or to help you know when and what to look for as they develop. You can
continue to use your knowledge of these milestones to help meet the needs of infants and toddlers in your care.
Even though the skills highlighted in the chart develop in a predictable sequence over the first three years of
life, each infant and toddler is unique. Your goal is to help all infants and toddlers grow and learn to their
potential.

Infants & Toddlers Social-Emotional Developmental Milestones

 Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger
 Likes to play with others, especially parents
6 months
 Responds to other people’s emotions and often seems happy
 Likes to look at self in mirror
 Is shy or nervous with strangers
 Cries when Mom or Dad leaves
 Has favorite things and people
 Shows fear in some situation
12 months
 Hands you a book when he or she wants to hear a story
 Repeats sounds and actions to get attention
 Puts out arm or leg to help with dressing
 Plays games such as “peek-a-boo” and “pat-a-cake”
 Likes to hand things to others as play
 May have temper tantrums
 May be afraid of strangers
 Shows affection to familiar people
18 months
 Plays simple pretend, such as feeding a doll
 May cling to caregivers in new situations
 Points to show others something is interesting
 Explores alone but with a parent close by
24 months  Copies others, especially adults and older children
 Gets excited when with other children
 Shows more and more independence

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  Shows defiant behavior (doing what she or he has been told not to do)
 Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children,
such as in chase games
 Copies adults and friends
 Shows affection for friends without prompting
 Takes turns in games
 Shows concern for a crying friend
36 months  Understands the idea of “mine” and “his” or “hers”
 Shows a wide range of emotions
 Separates easily from Mom and Dad
 May get upset with major changes in routine
 Dresses and undresses self

It is helpful to remember that expectations about social-emotional milestones are driven by cultural
values and preferences. Theorist Lev Vygotsky said that adults share their cultural values and beliefs with
children through daily interactions. Ideas, beliefs and expectations about child development are just some of the
ways cultures are unique. Becoming aware of and respecting these differences can help you better understand
families’ experiences that help shape the infants and toddlers in your care.

Supporting All Infants and Toddlers

Every child is born with her or his unique way of approaching the world. This is called temperament.
Some young children, for example, are constantly on the move while others prefer to sit and watch the world
around them. Some young children enjoy new experiences and meeting new people while others are slower to
warm up in new situations. Rothbart (1989) defined temperament as the individual personality differences in
infants and young children. As Murphy and Moon describe, “infants and young children vary greatly in their
interest in different sensory areas, in the intensity of their attention to sensory stimuli, and in their sensitivity to
feelings of comfort and discomfort, familiarity and strangeness, and the emotional context in which sensory
experiences occur.”
Infants are born with a unique temperament. There is no right or wrong, good or bad temperament. By
understanding temperament, you can continue to use what you know about infants and toddlers to encourage
their strengths and support their needs. In the Apply section you will review more information about
temperament and consider what it means for your role as a responsive caregiver.
No matter how well you understand temperament and are attuned and responsive, there will be times
that an infant or toddler in your care may not seem to be developing socially and emotionally. Some infants and
toddlers may experience social or emotional difficulties. These difficulties may be related to inborn (nature) or
environmental (nurture) influences. The caregiving strategies in this lesson apply and relate to all children;
however, some children may require an additional level of support.
Each infant’s or toddler’s relationship experiences and pattern of growth is different. In your work, you
observe and track each young child’s particular strengths and possible areas of need. Your screening and
assessment process is part of your ongoing routine, and it helps you to recognize and celebrate infants’ and
toddlers’ accomplishments. It also helps you to identify red flags—some aspect of the infant’s or toddler’s
development that is outside the expected age range.
The following general strategies can help you care for infants and toddlers who are experiencing social
and emotional difficulties. You can also talk with your supervisor, trainer or coach about additional community
resources and specialists who support your program who may offer additional support.
 Observe and notice the infant’s or toddler’s cues and responses to environmental stimuli. Think about
ways to limit noise level, for example, or visual stimuli.
 Observe and ask yourself if you notice increased frustration or irritability in the infant or toddler during
particular routines or times of day.

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  Think about ways to maintain physical closeness and offer gentle touch to help infants and toddlers
maintain a sense of control.

V. Learning Activities
Reflect on the following:
1. Based on stories you heard from your parents and grandparents about your first two years in the world, reflect
on the kind of micro system as explained by Bronfenbrenner that you have had as an infant and as a child. How
has it affected you?

2. One theme of Erikson's basic philosophy is that failure is cumulative. True, in many cases an individual who
has to deal with horrendous circumstances as a child may be unable to negotiate later stages as easily as
someone who didn't have as many challenges early on. For example, we know that orphans who weren't held or
stroked as infants have an extremely hard time connecting with others when they become adults.
Do you believe that there are exceptions? Reflect and, if you can, cite concrete examples. Don't forget to give
yourself as an example if it can be!

VI. Supplemental Context

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VII. Assessment
Having learned the physical development of infants and toddlers and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, as a
future parent or as caregiver of children, reflect on: what you should do more often for infants and toddlers what
you should refrain from doing to facilitate their growth and development.

VIII. Assignment
Several psychologists claim that babies need to be stimulated and challenged in order to grow and
develop on a cognitive level. Specific activities, practiced on a regular basis, stimulate an infant's cognitive
growth. However, the following experiment proves otherwise:
On the increasingly prevalent cultural assumption that more stimulation is better and that it is never too
early to start, neonatal units used to be filled with bright lights and soothing but stimulating sounds. Scientists
later found, however, that the sounds and lights of the neonatal care units were actually contributing to
problems of attention deficit and hyperactivity. So now the units are darkened and softened to resemble the dark
and muffled place, the womb, the environment that nature had intended for these babies (K.Pasek and R.
Golinkoff, 2003).
What is your stand on the issue of brain stimulation? You may want to review “pruning" of the brain
discussed in several references including internet to arrive at a more informed stand.

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